Israel, unions to start minimum wage talks as national strike looms

Chairman calls Israel's minimum wage a 'starvation wage'

By Steven Scheer

11/25/2014|hrreporter.com|Last Updated: 11/25/2014

JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel's Finance Minister will start negotiations with the country's main labour union in a bid to avert a national strike over demands to sharply raise the minimum wage, the ministry said.

Israel's minimum wage stands at 4,300 shekels ($1,255 CAD) a month and the Histadrut — the umbrella organisation for hundreds of thousands of public service workers — is seeking a hike to 5,300.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid invited Histadrut Chairman Avi Nissenkorn and Zvika Oren, head of Israel's Manufacturers' Association for talks on Monday aimed at preventing a strike the Histadrut has set for Dec. 4 and would likely shut the airport, trains, seaports and government services.

National strikes cost Israel's economy an estimated two billion shekels a day.

Lapid, in a meeting with Nissenkorn on Friday, said he supports a rise in the minimum wage and helping those at the bottom of the wage scale.

He has said in the past that he would support a rise to 4,500 shekels a month. Economy Minister Naftali Bennett also has expressed support for a higher minimum wage.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), Israel's real minimum wage was in the middle of the pack — 12th out of 25 countries in 2013.